Brave New World by Aldous Huxley is a representation of what Huxley perceived the world to be like many years from now. Set in 632 AF (after ford), the reader is introduced to a dystopia in which birth by conception is not an option, but babies are produced in a factory setting. One egg generally yields 96 identical babies--some gender neutral and others mentally disabled--while some eggs have been known to generate upwards of 17,000 babies. In this dystopia, the residents are ruled under a totalitarian state directed by 10 leaders. Since the entire world (save a small Indian reservation in New Mexico) is part of the same group, the world is not plagued with things such as war, disease, poverty, and pain. As children, the residents are subjected to mind control while sleeping to prepare them for lives as an adult in this distorted world. As adults, residents are cast into five different social groups, depending on their social status and abilities (ie. Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epilson.) Upon classification, the members of the society are completely happy with their assignment. Everyone is this world is very bland and similar, the only differences being their social classifications. As for the point of view: I enjoyed how this book was written; a third-person view point really allowed to reader to understand what was going on in all facets of the book, rather than just through one person's eyes.
Aldous Huxley, born July 26, 1894 in England was a very prominent writer during his time. A writer of many different types novels, essays, short stories, travel essays, among other literary works, Huxley has received many merits for his works. Huxley, although a humanist and pacifist, was known for his advocacy of hallucinogens, and was named the spiritual father of the 'hippie movement'.
This story by Huxley attempted to provide a look through Huxley's eyes of what he thought the world would be like many years from now. This distorted view of our world today is scary, but the fluctuations that we are seeing in our world present day makes this book seem not too farfetched. This story really makes one wonder what is the fate of the future of our world. Although my generation will not live to see a world like this, it is definitely a possibility for the far future.
1 comment:
Keegan,
Excellent review! (Sorry I missed this one earlier). You do a fine job here of both setting up the givens of the novel (without giving too much away) and providing some useful background information regarding Huxley and his career as a writer.
While this probably wouldn't appropriate for a review like this, I nonetheless was curious to learn just how 'scary' you think this world is. Every time i read this novel, my initial instinct is to recoil from is suppression of individuality. At the same time, I wonder if a world in which everyone truly was happy and everything was sustainable, wouldn't that be a good thing? I'd be interested in hearing what you think.
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